


Concusión

by Tina001



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Girlfriends/No Wives, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Medical Procedures, like a lot of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-27 00:56:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21383428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tina001/pseuds/Tina001
Summary: During the champions league match against Chelsea in 2012, Gerard clashed with Victor Valdes and Drogba and sustains a concussion. His mother and Sergio are there to help him through that process.
Relationships: Gerard Piqué/Sergio Ramos
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Concusión

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my native language, so please excuse any mistakes you might find :)  
I do not own any of these people and the whole story is fictional apart from the obvious facts.  
Enjoy!

The first thing Gerard noticed when he opened his eyes, was that he wasn’t at home. He felt weird and floaty and the bright white ceiling hurt his eyes, so he closed them again and drifted off to sleep.

The second time Gerard woke up, he noticed that he still didn’t know where he was but this time he managed to look around and saw that he was attached to a weird beeping monitor beside him and once he had taken a closer look around the room, he figured that he must be in a hospital. That was odd because no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t remember why he was here and what had happened to him. The last thing he knew was that he got into the team bus to get to the stadium and play against Chelsea. Before he could think more, his head started to hurt and a heavy tiredness overwhelmed him, so he didn’t fight the sleep he was falling into.

-“-

Gerard felt a soft hand stroke through his hair and instinctively tried to get closer to it since it soothed the pounding headache a little and felt comforting. Blinking he opened his eyes, to find his mother sitting next to his bed. Montserrat smiled down at her son once she saw that he was awake and continued to stroke through his hair since he hadn’t complained about it so far – something he usually did because no one was allowed to touch his precious hair.

“_Mamá_.” Gerard’s voice sounded horse and small. Montserrat looked at her son and her heart clenched at his words. He usually called her “Mom” or “Ma”. “_Mamá_” was only used when he was feeling really bad like that one time when he had called her from England because he was homesick or when he was fifteen and had his first major injury.

“Yes, Geri, what is it?”, she asked in a gentle tone and spoke quietly because she knew that he had to have a headache. “What happened? Why am I here?” Her son looked at her confused and it broke her heart a little to see how lost the expression on his face was.

“Well, what is the last thing you remember?” Montserrat asked and frowned when her son told her that he remembered climbing into the team bus to go to the stadium. “Okay, baby. You started playing the match in the start formation but after 17 minutes you clashed with Victor Valdes trying to defend the goal from Drogba. You were knocked unconscious on the field but the doctors let you play on for about 10 minutes because you insisted on it. After that they noticed that you were struggling way harder than they had thought in the beginning and they subbed you off and rushed you to hospital where you were diagnosed with a concussion.”

Gerard looked at her with wide eyes once she had finished explaining and then said slowly: “Weird … I don’t remember even getting into the stadium and you’re telling me that I played about 25 minutes … what’s the result of the game?”

Even in his hazy state of mind he could remember that they had to win this game to come into the next round of the Champions-League. Montserrat sighed and told her son: “It was a draw. 2:2. I’m sorry.” Gerard only shook his head tiredly and then winced because the movement wasn’t doing any good to his head. Montserrat continued to stroke through her eldest son’s hair and both of them were startled slightly when someone lightly knocked on the door.

The door swung open and revealed two men that Gerard both knew quite well. One was their team doctor Dr Pruna and the other one was one of the most known doctors of the world and a colleague and friend of his mother Dr Sanches. Both men entered the room and Gerard furrowed his brows. He didn’t understand why Dr Sanches was here. He normally tended to the worst cases and certainly didn’t waste his time with a simple concussion like he had. But then on the other side, Sanches was a good friend of his mother and had probably taken over his case because she had asked him to.

Dr Sanches smiled at Gerard and explained to him: “Hi Gerard. I don’t know if your mother already told you but you suffered from a pretty bad concussion on the pitch. Therefore we want to keep you here at least for one night and do a CT and an EEG. Then it is your turn to decide: you can either stay here or go home under the condition that your mother stays with you. In both cases you’ll have to rest for at least 2 days more before you can start again with some light exercises. Dr Pruna will explain those steps to you later. Do you still need time to think about your options or have you already made a decision?”

Gerard had listened to the words of Dr Sanches intently even though they did cause his head to hurt more. After he had finished, Barcas number 3 didn’t have to think about it twice. “I wanna go home as soon as possible”, he turned to his mother and pleaded, “please _mamá_, don’t make me stay here.” He knew that he sounded like a child but he had said the truth and he honestly didn’t care about the fact that the doctors were still in the room with them.

He had always hated to go to check-ups and hospitals and that hadn’t gotten any better throughout the years. He didn’t hide under his bed anymore like he did when he was 8 years old but even now, at the age of 25, he still dreaded going to the doctor and therefore he wouldn’t stay in here if he had an opportunity to escape it.

Dr Sanches, whom he had known since he was 7 years old, knew about his fear of check-ups and had often treated him when he was sick because Gerard felt more at ease with him than with a stranger. Dr Pruna also knew that Gerard didn’t like to be examined and therefore it didn’t surprise him that the defender would do anything to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

Montserrat smiled down at her son and reassured him that she was going to look after him and that he could go home with her as soon as possible. The two doctors disappeared again and Dr Sanches turned around again at the door and informed the soccer player: “I’m going to come back in an hour to do the CT and the EEG. Until then try to rest and stay in bed, yeah?” Gerard nodded and Dr Sanches closed the door quietly behind him.

As soon as the doctors were out of the room, Gerard turned to his mother and looked at her tentatively. “What is a CT? And an EEG? Will it hurt? Can you be there?” Montserrat smiled sadly and gently stroked through her sons hair to calm him. In this moment he reminded her of his 6-year-old-self that had been scared before his first day at school and had come to her with his worries. In a reassuring voice she started to explain to her son: “A CT-scan is used to take pictures of your brain. During that you’re going to lie on a cot and are going to be pushed slowly through an annular tunnel. All you have to do during that examination is to lie still and relax and it absolutely doesn’t hurt. An EEG also doesn’t hurt and you only have to lie down, relax and close your eyes. The doctor is going to put a hood with electrodes on it onto your head which will measure your brain’s activity. None of these examinations will hurt the slightest I assure you of that.” Gerard nodded and asked: “Can you be there with me? And where is Dad?”

“Your father is in Shanghai for a business trip, remember? I have already informed him about everything but unfortunately he can’t come home at the moment. I can be at your side during the EEG if you’d like that. During the CT you’re going to be alone in the tunnel but through a communication system you can talk to me and Dr Sanches if something is wrong, okay? Now rest a little I know that you’re having quite the headache.” Gerard decided that his mother was right and closed his eyes to drift off into a light slumber.

-“-

Gerard was woken up by his mother gently shaking him awake. He opened his eyes and immediately after closed them again because the room is far too bright for his liking. Slowly he opened his eyes again after a little while and squinted at the lights. Now he could see that Dr Sanches was back and that he looked at him concernedly. “Is the light hurting your eyes, Gerard?”, the doctor asked seriously and Gerard nodded and regretted it instantly because the pounding in his head seemed to be getting even worse. Dr Sanches sighed and then said: “I’ll need to ask you a few questions because the concussion seems to be more severe that I expected it to be. Can you sit up for me, Gerard?”

With the help of his mother who was thankfully still sitting by his side, Gerard pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked at Dr Sanches again. “I know that you have a headache. Does your neck also hurt?” The question surprised Gerard and he shrugged insecurely because he hadn’t really paid attention to anything than his hurting head. Dr Sanches sat down on the bedside that wasn’t occupied by Gerard’s mother and gently placed his hands in the back of Gerard’s neck. He felt around slightly and probed a little at different places. At some points Gerard would flinch because the pressure the doctor was putting on certain spots at the back of his neck was not really comfortable.

However Dr Saches seemed to be content and asked the next question: “Are you feeling sick? Do you think you’ll have to throw up?” Gerard answered honestly: “Yeah I’m feeling sick. But it’s more like an uncomfortable feeling down in my belly than the urge to throw up. Does that make sense?” The defender looked over at his mother questioningly who smiled and nodded and gently stroked over his cheek to reassure him.

This gesture awoke something in Gerard and before anyone could say something, he blurted out: “What about Sergio? Does he know I’m here? Oh god I need to call him, he’s always worrying –“ “Geri”, his mother interrupted him. “I already called Sergio as soon as I knew the diagnosis. When you’re coming home tomorrow he’ll be there. Don’t worry. You can call him later when the CT and the EEG are done, okay?” Relief flooded through Gerard when he heard that he was going to see his boyfriend the next day.

Dr Sanches smiled at him and then said: “Okay, now that the important questions are answered, I thought that we should do the examinations as quick as possible so that you can talk to Sergio. Does that sound alright Gerard?” The defender nodded and he was wheeled out of the room with his bed and on the way Dr Sanches explained to him that they were first going to do the CT.

Once they were in the room with the CT-scan-machine, which Gerard had to admit looked a little scary, Dr Sanches approached him with a syringe in his hand. “What are you doing?”, Gerard tried to keep his voice steady but failed miserably. With panicked eyes he looked to his mother who immediately started to calm him down. “Geri, Dr Sanches has to inject you a contrast medication to make sure that the pictures are sharp. I know that you don’t like that but it has to be done, okay? Just close your eyes and concentrate on something else and it will be over soon.” Gerard closed his eyes like his mother had told him, but he gripped his mother’s hand in an iron grip when he felt that the needle was entering his skin. He couldn’t hold in a slight whimper but soon the needle vanished and he opened his eyes again and was met with his mother’s proud smile.

He was then helped onto a cot and Dr Sanches covered him with a light blanket before he explained: “Okay Gerard, before we’re going to push you into the tunnel for the scan, we have to restrain your head to make sure that you don’t move it subconsciously and therefore ruin the pictures. Inside of the tunnel, a communication system is installed. At some points of time you’ll be getting instructions on how to breathe because changing your rhythm of breaths will also change the way your brain works. If you feel like you’ll have to throw up or anything else is wrong, you’ll have to tell us immediately, okay? We can hear you at all times and in case something is wrong, we’ll get you out of the tunnel as quick as possible.”

Gerard nodded and couldn’t deny that he felt quite relieved after hearing that. His mother smiled at him and added: “It won’t take long … only 10 minutes and it will be over.” Dr Sanches came over and carefully fixed Gerard’s head to the cot by using a contraption that looked fairly intimidating but wasn’t as uncomfortable as Gerard had thought it would be.

Once Dr Sanches had finished his task, he and his mother disappeared through a door on his right and the cot that he was lying on started to move. Lying in the tunnel made Gerard feel slightly sick, so he closed his eyes to try and forget that there wasn’t as much space over his head as he would like it to be. After some time he was startled by Dr Sanches voice that came from somewhere to his left and instructed him to breathe in and out in another rhythm. Gerard did as he was told but didn’t open his eyes once.

Finally Dr Sanches told him that he could go back to breathing normally and the doctor asked: “Gerard, are you okay or do you need to stop?” Gerard answered that he was fine, which was partially the truth. Of course, he would like to stop this thing as soon as possible but he knew that if he stopped now, they would have to do it all over again and that was the last thing he wanted. He shut his eyes even tighter and thought about his upcoming phone call with Sergio.

Thinking about his boyfriend relaxed him and he was even able to forget for a short time where he was and why he was here. Gerard was so deep in thoughts that he was startled when the cot started moving again. Even though he still had his eyes shut, his surroundings were getting lighter and lighter and when he cautiously opened one eye to check out what had happened, he realised that the scan must be over since he wasn’t in the tunnel anymore and his mother and Dr Sanches were just entering the room and coming to his side.

Dr Sanches freed his head but didn’t let him sit up. He met Gerard’s confused stare with a reassuring smile and explained: “Your mother and I thought it would be the best if we do the EEG right away. Are you okay with that?” Gerard nodded and turned to his mother when Dr Sanches went into the room next door to get whatever he needed for the EEG. “Are you alright, Geri? Do you need something? Some water maybe?”, Montserrat asked her son but he denied it because he feared that he would have to throw it back up as soon as it entered his unsteady stomach.

Dr Sanches returned with a funny looking hood that held the 21 electrodes that were necessary for the EEG. The doctor spread some gel on the inside of the hood and explained to his patient: “This gel is a contact gel that is going to help stick the electrodes to your scalp. Unfortunately it will get into your hair but it’s really easy to wash out again.” Gerard let Dr Sanches put the hood onto his head and it was connected to a monitor with a lot of cables and wires. The machine looked quite intimidating to Gerard and Montserrat gently told her son to relax and close his eyes. During the examination, Dr Sanches sometimes asked Gerard to do easy tasks like open and close his eyes or solve a simple math equation because that would change the way his brain worked and sent different signals.

When the EEG was finally done, Dr Sanches disconnected Gerard carefully from the monitor and Montserrat cautiously took away the hood from his head. “Are we done now?”, asked Gerard in a tired voice and Dr Sanches nodded: “Both the CT and the EEG showed no signs for concern so we don’t need to do further examinations. You’ll still have to stay here tonight to monitor you but you’re going to be discharged tomorrow morning. Oh and one more thing: No TV or mobile or laptop for today, yeah? Of course you can talk to Sergio, but don’t overdo it, okay?” Gerard’s face showed a relieved expression and both his mother and the doctor laughed quietly about that.

Once Gerard was back in his room, Montserrat handed her son her phone. On their way she had already called Sergio and had told him about the examinations and their results. She had also explained to him that it wouldn’t be good if Gerard was on the phone for too long since that would only increase his headache and possibly trigger nausea and sickness. Sergio had been really understanding and before Montserrat handed the phone to her son, she reminded him: "Don’t overdo it, yeah? I really don’t want you to increase your headache and possibly have to throw up as well. Try to keep it short, okay? I’ll wait outside, when you need something just press that button over there and me and Dr Sanches will be here immediately.” Gerard nodded and thanked his mom before he took the phone and began to smile when he saw that Sergio was already waiting for him.

“Hey Sese”, Geri greeted his boyfriend. “Hey Geri”, Sergio spoke in a quite tone of voice that was incredibly comforting to Gerard and made him feel better instantly. “How are you? Your mom already told me that you have a severe concussion but I want to hear it from you that you’re as good as possible.” Gerard chuckled quietly and answered completely honest: “I’m alright, I guess. I mean I have a headache that makes me feel like my head is gonna explode soon and I feel kinda sick even if I don’t have to throw up. And I’m really tired.” “Okay baby, I guess that’s normal. And I already knew that you’re tired – your voice gave it away. Are you still sitting up or already lying down?” That question surprised Gerard but he answered: “I’m still sitting in bed, why?”

“Because I want you to lie down, put your phone on speaker next to you, close your eyes and listen to me until you fall asleep. Is that alright?”, was the answer he got from his boyfriend. Gerard complied and Sergio started talking again in that soft quiet voice that always comforted Gerard and also soothed his pounding headache. “Do you remember our first world cup in South Africa? We were roommates back then because Del Bosque thought it would be a good chance for us to get to know each other better outside of the pitch. It was your first major tournament and you were quite nervous and stuck to Andres and Carles and Xavi a lot, just as I was with Iker every free moment. But on a long plane ride we ended up sitting together – I still think that it was their plan – and you ended up falling asleep on my shoulder because you were exhausted from the match. You looked so ….. cute ….. fell in love with you right then ….. love you ….” Sergio’s voice faded when Gerard started to drift off into sleep.

Montserrat looked at her watch and furrowed her brows. She had told both of the boys to not overdo it, but they were still on the phone after 45 minutes. Sighing she decided to put an end to it because they were going to see each other the next day anyway. She was already prepared for her son’s unhappy face and a discussion about it but when she entered the room, she saw that Gerard had fallen asleep with the phone next to his head.

When she picked it up, Montserrat realised that Sergio was still on call and that he was on speaker. She carefully pulled the blanket higher over her son and quietly left the room again with the phone in her hand. Once she was standing in the hallway, she spoke into the phone: “Sergio, are you still there?” The defender of Real Madrid answered immediately and explained: “I made Geri fall asleep on me because I thought that would be the easiest way for all of us to get him to sleep.”

-“-

When Gerard woke up the sun was shining into the room brightly which caused him to let a pained whimper out of his mouth when he opened his eyes. His mother, who was sitting on a chair next to his bed, furrowed her brows concerned and even before she said something, Gerard knew that he would have to spend more time here than he would like to. “Good morning Geri. The light is still hurting your eyes, hmm? Don’t worry, I’ll get Dr Sanches and we’ll solve this.” Gerard nodded and after his mother had finished calling her colleague, she stroked through his hair and said gently: “I know that you want to go home as soon as possible but I don’t want to risk anything because this could be serious. And I promise you that you don’t have to stay here for another night, okay?” “Thank you, mamá”, Gerard mumbled but shook his head when she wanted to hand him the breakfast that sat on a tray next to her.

Before she could say anything though, the door opened and Dr Sanches came into the room. Gerard lay back and curled in on himself slightly while his mother informed her colleague about the problem. The doctor looked at him compassionately and came over to the soccer player. “Good morning Gerard. I’m just gonna quickly shine a light into your eyes to see if the pupils are dilating correctly. This might be quite uncomfortable for you but please try to keep your eyes open as long as possible, okay?” Gerard nodded and the doctor started his examination. And he was right: It was really uncomfortable when the penlight hit his eyes but thankfully it was over quickly.

Dr Sanches seemed to be pleased and he explained: “That was like it should be. Nevertheless it concerns me that the light is hurting you that much. I would like to do another EEG but for a longer time if possible. Are you alright with that?” Gerard nodded wordlessly and Dr Sanches smiled at him: “Good. Unfortunately you’re not my only patient but I think that I can do that around two p.m.” Montserrat thanked her colleague and Dr Sanches left the room again.

The EEG and some other examinations that Dr Sanches did to the promised time took ages and when he was finally finished, Gerard was so exhausted that he fell asleep right away.

-“-

Gerard woke up to two voices talking near him. When he opened his eyes slowly, he saw that his mother and Dr Sanches were standing in his room and were discussing something. Once he sat up, both of them looked up and came over to him. Dr Sanches wasted no time – as usual – and came straight to the point: “Good morning, Gerard – or well good evening would be the better fit. I guess you can’t wait to get out of here, so I’ll keep it short: We have gone over the images of the EEG again, but haven’t found anything which means that there is absolutely no necessity for you to stay here – at least not from a medical point of view. You’re strictly forbidden to do any kind of sports for the next three to four days because the concussion is more severe than we originally thought and therefore it’ll take longer for the symptoms to go down. After those days, Dr Pruna will check you again and then you can start with some light training and exercises again. Until then I strongly suggest that you rest as much as you can but I’m sure that both your mother and Sergio will make sure of that. Also I wouldn’t recommend you to watch TV or sit in front of the laptop or mobile for too long in the next days because that will only increase the headache that you’ll be feeling for that time. For the headache and the possible nausea I gave your mother some medication that you can take. She knows the doses and also what they are for. Do you have any more questions?” Gerard shook his head and looked at his mother who only smiled and gave him a bag with clothes.

The two colleagues left the room for Gerard to change and the soccer player only now realised that he was wearing some of his training clothes and that he hadn’t showered since the evening before the game. He wrinkled his nose and thanked whoever had put this bag together for putting in a deodorant. Nevertheless Gerard made a mental note to shower as soon as possible because he could still feel some of the sweat and dirt that he had picked up on during the game – that he still couldn’t remember playing – and he also still had he contact gel from the two EEGs sticking to his hair.

Opening the door of his room, he found out that his mother had already filled out the release papers for him and had also signed as the person who was going to watch him and he only had to put his signature under the papers to get discharged.

The drive home had been a short one and soon Montserrat parked the car inside the garage next to Gerard’s house. Gerard began to smile when he saw the Audi that belonged to Sergio standing in the garage as well. He hadn’t expected his boyfriend to be here already because he had an important Champions League match against Bayern Munich today but it was already late in the evening and he couldn’t be here for a long time.

They entered the house through a door that lead from the garage straight into the house which was quite useful because it gave the paparazzi that were waiting outside no chance to get a look at them. Once Montserrat and Gerard had entered the house, they were met with a brightly smiling Sergio Ramos. The defender from Real Madrid first greeted Montserrat and then turned to Gerard. Sergio smiled widely at him and gently pulled him into a long hug. With a sigh Gerard relaxed against his boyfriend and buried his head in the crook of the shorter ones neck. The younger one inhaled deeply and found that the characteristic scent of his boyfriend – a mixture of his Hugo Boss perfume and just Sergio – both comforted him and made him calm down. Sergio smiled at his boyfriend and hugged him a little tighter.

After some long moments, Sergio carefully pushed Gerard away a bit and before Gerard could protest, he was pulled into a loving kiss. When they broke the kiss, Sergio smiled at Gerard and asked: “Hey love. Are you alright? Do you want something to eat? Or something else? Or do you just want to go to sleep?” Gerard smiled when he saw how caring his boyfriend was and answered: “Hey yourself. I guess I would like to shower and then go to bed if that’s alright?” Before Sergio had the chance to answer, Montserrat chimed in: “You should really eat something before you go to bed, Geri. You haven’t eaten since before the match which was over a day ago. No discussion, you will eat something whether you want to or not.”

Gerard pulled a face at his mother but nodded: “Okay I’ll eat something. But before that I really want to shower. I’m still sweaty and dirty from the match and I have this gross gel stuck in my hair that makes it look and feel all terrible.” Sergio chuckled and said: “Well, how about this: The two of us are going to the bathroom now and once we’re finished there, I’ll get us some of the Gazpacho that my mum made and told me to bring with me. Montserrat if you want some too, it’s on the kitchencounter in the blue box. And after we finished eating, we’ll cuddle and you can sleep a bit. Alright Geri?” Gerard nodded and the two defenders went upstairs to finally get that stuff out of Gerard’s hair.

Montserrat watched them disappear with a fond smile on her face and decided to make herself at home in the living room since she knew exactly that the two weren’t going to come down any time soon and so she wouldn’t disturb them. She had no worries about Gerard’s condition and she knew that Sergio would tell her immediately if something was wrong or if he couldn’t handle a situation.

When Gerard entered the bathroom, he was so surprised that he halted in his tracks. Sergio behind him chuckled quietly and put a hand on his lower back to push him forward a bit so he could enter the room as well and shut the door behind them. The bathtub was already filled with hot water and Sergio seemed to have added some oil because it smelled like lemongrass and something else that Gerard couldn’t quite grasp. The defender from Barcelona had expected to take a quick shower with his boyfriend but a long bath with him was definitely something that he preferred.

“What, are you gonna stand there all day and stare at the tub or are you eventually gonna join me and get in there?”, asked Sergio amused while he already pulled off his sweater and his jeans. Gerard blushed and also shed his clothes as quickly as he could in his still a little confused state. Sergio extended a hand to him to help him into the tub without falling down and then sat down behind Gerard. Usually their positions were the other way round because Gerard was taller than Sergio but today the height difference didn’t play a role.

Once Sergio was seated, Gerard slid down a bit and rested his head on Sergio’s shoulder. Both of them were glad that Gerard had been so foresighted to purchase a huge tub in which both of them fit and there was still some space left. Sergio pressed a soft kiss to Gerard’s temple and said quietly: “Okay_ mi amor_, now I wanna hear the truth: How are you? I know that you tried to play it down downstairs but you can’t fool me. Please tell me the truth yeah?”

Gerard sighed but nodded lightly. “I am alright, really. I mean, I still have a headache that makes me feel like my head is going to explode soon but other than that I’m fine. A little tired and worn out and a tiny bit nauseous but that’s it. Really.” Sergio nodded and seemed to be content with that answer. Gerard closed his eyes which caused Sergio to ask: “You didn’t sleep well, hmm _querido_?” The defender from Barcelona shook his head and explained: “I was woken up every once in a while to check if I was still alright and I also slept very fitful and restless. I guess I missed your help to fall asleep. And the times that I slept in the afternoon after the examinations, I was even more beat when I woke up than when I fell asleep.”

Sergio nodded understandingly and began to wash his boyfriend’s hair. After he was done with the shampoo, the Madridista began to rinse it out carefully. They both proceeded to get out of the tub and Sergio handed Gerard a big, fluffy towel and a boxer and then said: “What about you go to bed already and I’ll get us the gazpacho?”

Gerard nodded and disappeared into their bedroom, chuckling when he heard Sergio shout after him: “And don’t you dare to fall asleep without me! I’ll have no problem waking you up again!” 

Sergio went downstairs and filled two bowls with the gazpacho. Whilst he put them on a tray and then started cutting some bread into slices, Montserrat came into the room. “How is he?”, she asked and Sergio turned around surprised because he hadn’t heard her enter the room. “I guess he’s alright. He said that he has a headache and he seems very tired but other than that, he didn’t tell me anything”, he responded and Gerard’s mother nodded.

Then she handed Sergio two blisters of pills and explained: “Those round ones are against headaches. If he wants to, Gerard can swallow two of them before he goes to sleep, so the headache won’t bother him until the morning. The longer pills are for when he feels sick. If that’s the case, give him one of them and after about twenty minutes, he should stop feeling sick. If those pills don’t work, come down and wake me, then I’ll give him a shot, but I don’t suspect that he’ll need it. I know that he hates swallowing pills but I guess you’ll find a way to make him take them.” Sergio grinned at the last words and nodded. He continued to cut the bread and asked: “Geri has told me that he was woken up every few hours last night to check on him. Is there anything that I should watch out for?”

Montserrat smiled and shook her head: “No that’s just done for the 24 hours after the incident to make sure that there are no major brain consequences. After those hours there’s no such thing possible anymore and that’s also the reason why the patients are released after a day – or mostly just a night – at the hospital.” Sergio nodded his head in understanding and put the bread on the tray to the bowls. He then wished a good night to Montserrat and went upstairs to Gerard again.

Entering the bedroom, Sergio was met with a sleepy Gerard who sat upright in bed but looked like he would fall asleep every minute. Sergio smiled softly at him and sat the tray on the nightstand before he climbed into the bed as well. Gerard immediately snuggled in between his legs and rested his head on Sergio’s shoulder with a sigh. The older one chuckled lightly and moved around a little and put one of the bowls into Gerard’s hands. The basket with the bred was set next to their knees and Sergio pressed a soft kiss to Gerard’s cheek: “If you start to feel sick, please tell me yeah? That’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Gerard nodded and slowly ate the first spoon full of soup.

He was a little cautious since his stomach was quite upset but surprisingly the soup helped a little with that. It seemed to get better the more soup he ate and after a while he was confident enough to try a little slice of bread with it.

After a while both of the football players had finished their food and Gerard once again rested his head against Sergio’s shoulder. The older one chuckled and moved around a little to try and get the bowls out of their bed onto the nightstand. His eyes fell onto the blisters of pills and he gently asked: “How is your head, Geri? Does it still hurt?” Gerard shrugged his shoulders and buried his face in the crook of Sergio’s neck which worried his boyfriend a little.

After a little while, Gerard answered silently: “It still feels like it’s gonna explode any minute. And I think maybe the bread was too much for my stomach.” Sergio made a compassionate sound and gently helped Gerard to lie down on his side of the bed, before the older defender climbed out of bed which caused Gerard to look at him confused. “I’m only going to get a basket real quick, in case you need it during the night”, explained Sergio and, when he saw the embarrassed expression on his boyfriend’s face, he added: “That’s nothing you should be ashamed of, Geri. It’s nothing that you can control and I really doubt that you need it, but I’ll get it just to be sure, yeah querido?” Gerard nodded and Sergio quickly fetched a bucket which he then placed on Geri’s side of the bed.

Before Gerard could fall asleep however, Sergio was determined to make his boyfriend swallow the pills that Montserrat had given him. Gerard didn’t seem to like the idea but Sergio showed no mercy: “Look, Geri, I know that you don’t like to swallow pills. But I promise you, they are going to help with your headache and also with the nausea. I just want you to get a goodnights sleep, so that you won’t have to swallow the pills tomorrow as well. Please, do it for me?” He finished off his request with the best puppy eyes that he could manage and it seemed to work because Gerard nodded and tried to sit up properly in bed.

Sergio quickly rushed to help him and then offered him the two pills that would help with his headache. Gerard eyed them wearily but before he could take them, Sergio moved to sit behind him, put a glass of water in his hand and said: “Come on, open up and then it’ll be over, hm? I know you don’t like them, but you don’t want your headache to increase even more, right?” Gerard had nothing to say against that line of argumentation and with an exasperated sigh, he took the pills out of Sergio’s hand and swallowed them down with a few gulps of water. Sergio smiled at him proudly and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.

When Gerard wanted to turn around, Sergio stopped him from doing so and explained: “Geri, your mom gave me pills against the nausea as well. Please, be honest with me: Do you think it would be better to take one of them to prevent you getting sick in the night? I can totally understand if you say no but I just want you to think about it, yeah _amor_?” Gerard sighed and let his head rest against Sergio’s shoulder and after some time he mumbled quietly: “Maybe it would be better if I take one of them. But … that’s the last one then, yeah?” Sergio chuckled and nodded. They repeated the procedure and finally Gerard was allowed to snuggle up to his boyfriend.

“My stomach still feels uneasy”, he complained to Sergio who laughed lightly in return and then said: “Well, your mom said it would take 20 minutes or so for the pills to take effect, but I’m sure you’ll survive it. You don’t feel like you’ll have to throw up, right?” Gerard only shook his head and mumbled something about that it wasn’t a nice feeling after all. Sergio began to gently massage Gerard’s belly with big circular motions and when he wanted to check after another 15 minutes if the pill had taken effect he found his boyfriend fast asleep in his arms. Smiling the Madridista buried his head in the back of Gerard’s neck and fell asleep himself.


End file.
